Tea Fairy

At home, my family had an ‘in-joke’ about the “Tea Fairy”. This was the invisible winged creature that seemed to always produce a cup of tea when my wife and son wanted one. That is to say, me, going unnoticed.

I was giving a corporate presentation in the US and had flown over from the UK that morning. During the break I was standing next to the drinks and food, and found myself in a group with the new Sales Director. I decided to play the host, and went to offer everyone a cup of tea, but what came out of my jet-lagged mouth was “Shall I be Tea-Fairy?”

In the horrible stunned silence that followed, my scrambled brain decided that the look on the director’s face wasn’t utter incomprehension and disbelief, but more of an “I’m sorry, can you explain what a Tea Fairy is?” So – with part of my brain screaming ‘STOP’ – I gave a little hop in the air and fluttered my eyes and arms (and eyebrows, I suspect) like I imagine any self-respecting tea-fairy would do.